The fox that came within three paces of me today was a handsome fellow - good coat, fine white end to his tail.  He was at the erstwhile duck feeder on top of the steps from the terrace to the grass.  Of the human wildlife it was my doubtful pleasure to meet on Tuesday, of course, there's nothing I'm at liberty to say.

So, back to the garden.  I've re-planted the basket by the front door with a couple of fuchsias that have been hanging around rather too long on the staging bay the back door, adding a few pansies that I hope will flower for us into the winter.  The tomatoes are cropping like mad things, so we were able to do bruschette for the lunch guests today.  They left with rooted cuttings of cistus pulverulentus and the rose pink penstemon.  Out at the front, the cosmos seedlings are flowering well, as are the dwarf nicotianas.  This morning I finally got round to splitting the clivia that has been outgrowing its pot for some time.  I had to nibble away at the pot with secateurs to get the plants free.  Unfortunately, two of the plantlets came away without roots, and another with next to none. We'll see. 

Today's lunch menu pressed on with mushroom and red pepper quiche ('I'll take the Quickie.'  'That's Quiche, Mr President.') with a tossed salad and new potatoes.  Pudding, by resident pastry cook Martyn, was a superb concoction of meringue nests, whipped cream, strawberries, raspberries and a coulis of blackberries and rasps.  Our second lunch here this week: Andy and Celia were here on Monday for a salad of fresh and smoked salmon with prawns, followed by Celia's superb tarte tatin.  All effective only, of course, as part of a calorie controlled diet. Adding to this the fact that tomorrow evening I'm meeting for dinner some fellow practitioners of the hobby that dare not speak its name, I'll be ready for a crash diet.